【题目】Searching for Utopia

1 While most of the world seems to be motivated by more money , better televisions.

more powerful cars , the highest-tech computers , bigger houses , there are some independent souls who are tired of “the rat-race” that is , the stressful pressures of working hard to get ahead. Since around 1990 , there has been a slow but steady rise in “intentional communities” in the U. S. An intentional community is a group of people who have chosen to live together with a common purpose. Although quite diverse in philosophy and lifestyle , each of these groups places a high priority on a sense of community, in other words , the feeling of belonging and mutual support. There were 300 intentional communities listed in the 1990 edition of the Intentional Communities Directory; by 1995 , this had grown to 600 , and it is estimated that there are now several thousand, listed and unlisted , in operation. These communities vary in size , but in the 600 listed communities in 1995 , total population , including children, was estimated at 24 ,000. 

2 At first glance, the intentional community movement appears quite diverse. It is

multi-generational, i. e. with ages ranging from children to seniors. They may choose to live together on a piece of rural land , in a suburban centre, or in an urban neighborhood. In some communities, individuals own their own land and house; in others , these things are shared. There is a wide variety of choices regarding standard of living – some embrace voluntary simplicity while others have full access to the products and services of today’ s society. Even the purposes vary widely. For example , communities have been formed to create great family neighborhoods , to live ecologically sustainable lifestyles, or simply to live with others who share their values. Some are secular while others are committed to a common religious belief.

3 What unites the intentional community movement is its members’ proud rejection of

mainstream consumer values. Nearly all communities encourage sharing items members 630 don’ t need to own privately, for example, washing machines, trucks , swimming pools. Many communities serve as model environmental or teaching centers for sustainable agriculture. For example, “The Farm” , a large cooperative community in rural Tennessee does not reject competitive business practices but rather, commits to a vision of environmentally friendly business. Members of “The Farm” work in several small-scale industries including solar electronics , solar car research , and a publishing company for alternative books.

4 An example of an intentional community committed to voluntary simplicity is

Vashon Co-Housing Community. Its members choose to live in small unpainted wood

houses, shingled with cedar. “Uncle Martin” decided to leave New York in 1989 and move his family to the Vashon Co-Housing. He and his family live on little money , don’ t own a computer, and forbid anything with the Disney label on it. Rather than playing Myst on the computer, the family spends their evening playing old-fashioned card games , or reading. Residents live in separate dwellings but homes are connected by dirt roads , there are 13 acres of communal land , all residents attend bimonthly meetings , and every month there is a work party in which everybody pitches in with outdoor chores.

5 These communities are the newest expression of the 300-year-old American desire to build a non-hierarchical , or equal, community with values uncorrupted by the larger society. It was this desire to form a new , ideal community which brought the Pilgrims to the U. S. in the early 17th century. 300 years later, it is still impossible to find a community that has achieved perfection. The problems we see “out there” in the mainstream – greed, dishonesty , egoism , competition, factionalism— all manage to find their way into

alternative cultures too. However, intentional communities have a much lower crime rate than their mainstream neighbors , and claim a more caring and satisfying lifestyle. They are committed to ideals of ecology, cooperation, and family , even though they may often fail to reach those ideals perfectly. Their utopian vision provides a challenge to the pace and purpose of modern American society.

 Intentional communities are the newest expression of the 300-hundred-old American desire to build an equal community.

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